This article is reproduced in full with the consent of the author, Dr Jill Segger:-

Not speaking unless you can improve on silence is something with which most Quakers are comfortable. This may mean holding your peace even when you have an opinion.

There is much strife and division on our society today and it has become apparent that to occasionally choose silence is no longer an option for many people. But silence, properly understood, is so much more than evidence of fear or a lack of conviction. It has the power to create a space in which difference, far from being glossed over, may be acknowledged, but deprived of its power to polarise.

When all parties in difference pile in, eager to get their point across and usually seeking to win or dominate, truth and understanding are not served. Mediation or reconciliation becomes difficult as words drive people apart and embed them in the outcomes of confrontation.

If the 'aggressive secularism' of Bideford Town Council – who, let it be remembered, received a ruling which simply said it had no powers to compel councillors to attend prayers - had not become the subject of so much over-excited attention from people who, in Philip Pullman's words: “simply haven't read the judgement, or don't want to read the judgement, because they seem much more keen on making a fuss", someone might have considered the simple solution of replacing the oxymoronic 'compulsory prayers' with a period of shared silence.

In those restful moments, no councillor's faith or lack of it would have been a source of threat or irritation to another. Each would have been at liberty to daydream, pray, reflect, centre down or just step away a little from their previous preoccupations. During my years of service as a local councillor, I can think of many instances where a few moments of consensual silence would have greatly improved both our proceedings and our relations with each other.

The zealotry of that part of the faith community which sees a secular state as an instrument of 'Christianophobia', does not deal in this healing silence. It flies to its pulpit - some would say to its bully pulpit - without pause for reflection. It appears to believe that to be vociferous is to be faithful and that any other course would be a betrayal of trust. Conviction must, of course, be free to speak its mind. But that should not blind it to the possibilities of preparing fruitful ground for dialogue with those who hold an opposing view with equal sincerity.

If George Carey's Coalition for Marriage and the supporters of same sex marriage could agree to meet regularly and spend time in silent reflection, both sides would have the opportunity to place their difference beyond polemic and point scoring. It is evident that imputing bad faith or error to each other can do nothing but increase division and resentment. A respectful and gathered silence would, at least, create the possibility of moving beyond the megaphone.

In the words of Quaker Faith and Practise: “As, together, we enter the depths of a living silence, the stillness of God, we find one another in ‘the things that are eternal’, upholding and strengthening one another."

Lord Prescott was jumped all over when being interviewed by Kirsty Young on the radio programme Desert Island Discs. He allowed himself a pause for thought upon being asked whether he thought Ed Miliband would lead the next Government.

Heretic wrote:...I did not realise it but a small herd of cows had been released into the field, rather than the normal sounds that cows make as they communicate with each other they were quite. I was quite unaware of their presence. Suddenly and that is how it felt to me I get a massive shove in my back that rolled me over onto the grass. These cows had come up to me in the middle of the field and surrounded me, they must of been stealth cows as I didn't hear them approach. You just cannot imagine how strong a cow is until you remember the size of their neck and the fact that all of that neck or most of it is muscle. I opened my eyes in surprise and just laughed when I realised what had happened, the cows seemed to be laughing too....

You have no idea how lucky you were. People immediately think of dangers of bulls in a field but rarely realise that cows can be extremely dangerous especially if there are any calves in the group. I remember reading an NFU article that pointed out that more walkers are killed by cows than by bulls because of this.

Do cows meditate? I wonder what thoughts run through their heads when they listen to the silence ...

Cow thought .oO I really hope I'm a breeding cow and not slated for the butcher shop. I'd cross my fingers, but all I have are these damn hooves, and I can't cross those! Oh no, here comes another human moron driving down the street. I bet someone sticks their head out of the window and moos at me when the car passes by.

Human: Moooooooo!

Cow thought .oO Yeah, I thought so. He wouldn't be mooing if the hoof was on the other leg. He doesn't have to worry about being eaten at a picnic or restaurant or around the family dinner table. If my bovine mouth was capable of forming words, I'd tell those gluttonous humans to stop eating us! Cows are people too! But alas, all I can do is moo ... what kind of cruel god would do that to our species?

That is true, no doubt - the events in our lives are in a sense less important than our attitude to them - however, if the events are uniformly painful, uncomfortable, emotionally challenging --- maybe it becomes harder to adopt a positive mental attitude -----

boatlady wrote:That is true, no doubt - the events in our lives are in a sense less important than our attitude to them - however, if the events are uniformly painful, uncomfortable, emotionally challenging --- maybe it becomes harder to adopt a positive mental attitude -----

To handle a crisis with strength and fortitude is not difficult, once. To handle crisis after crisis, day after day, week after week is far more difficult.

A friend of mine suffers from Fibromyalgia and it is very much advanced to the point where she is bed-ridden on average five days out of seven. She does not and cannot see the days when she cannot get out of bed as failures but very much does see the days when she can get out of bed and put her make-up on as glorious victories, if she can leave the house as well then they become magnificent victories.

Everything is relative.

Heretic

My condition is very similar to Fibromyalgia so I know what that's like - and it's a big reason why I'm not around the forum more often. I've had to give up the vast majority of things that I once enjoy including socializing, traveling, walking, exploring, and a host of other things. I am glad, though, that I have this condition NOW and not say, 100 years ago. Even excluding the lack of medicine for this condition back then, I would be stuck in a room, in a bed, doomed to lay there for hours/days staring at the ceiling in utter silence. No television, no DVDs, no computer, no internet, no video games, no radio, no phonographs, and only the most primitive telephone service. Holy crap I think I would be insane with boredom if not for modern technology. At least there's that.

But the less you're able to do, the smaller the task one can list as an accomplishment. Whereas others do those things without thinking, to us, they are monumentally difficult endeavors.

The human body is such that evolution cannot in any way be responsible for it's existance, we have not even touched the edge of the possibilities God offered and I do not mean to erase pain and suffering, if we had obeyed his instructions, no, not obeyed but accepted, then there would not be either pain or suffering.

I have seen my wife die from cancer over a period of 18 months going down to a weight of 4 stone.

She was the most devote Christian you could meet and whilst I at the time could not believe God could allow such suffering to one so faithful. she said we all must endure that which befalls us until such times as God takes controll.

I said I could not understand why it could or should happen to her,her reply was, why not me.

I myself have had a hip replacement without which I would not have been able to walk, along with eye surgery and several other hearing problems, all of which I am most grateful for, however, I would much rather mankind had adhered to God's advice which would have resulted in no ill health.

My younger sister had a baby girl, Dawn, who because of the lack of oxygen at birth needed 24 hours a day attention fo all her needs.

My sister did so for 46 years, every day, Dawn died and two weeks after my sister died.

So I feel along with being witness to countless other succch situations I am well aware of the problems mankind suffers.

The question is WHY.

I feel if you base your opinion on ill health etc; then you have a very unsound foundation for blaming anyone other than mankind.

You have my deepest sympathy and will not persue the matter further other than to say my children and grandchildren are all of an age when I can feel their future is reasonable under all the present circumstances and for that I am truly grateful.

I am sorry, polyglide, but only the most heinous monstrosity could sit and watch the horrible suffering of humanity - and DO NOTHING.

Who gives a rat's ass if Eve ate some ridiculous fruit ... I don't care how angry I was that my creation disobeyed. My anger would be quickly squashed as I watch the suffering and knowing I caused it ... and I have the power to end it.

So no ... there is simply no excuse, for no purely good entity could watch the injustices, and the suffering, and the pain and not be moved to intervene.

Our Constitution here in the U.S. protects us from cruel and unusual punishments, something God could learn from.

And, as I am not the World Dictator of Mankind, I have no responsibility for what everyone else does, so why should I be punished for it?

It's all such a load of nonsense, and why anyone, Christian or not, would want to believe in this immoral claptrap is simply beyond baffling.

I do many things to help those less fortunate and pray constantly that those who suffer in any part of the world are assisted in coping with their problems.

You do not understand the problem God has with Satan, just as there is good and evil in mankind, there is obviously the same situation in God's provinces and until you appreciate this situation you cannot possibly understand much of any of the events on earth.

God will be far more dispondent at the state of the world than any man, after all we are his children in one sense of the word.

polyglide wrote:Prayer is the most potent form of requesting the proper means of not only an end to wrong doing but putting right the wrongs, if possible.

Prayer is what gives Christians the illusion of control when faced with a situation that they can't control. Yeah, I know it can be frustrating to have to sit around doing nothing as things seem to get worse, but that's the way it is sometimes. If a loved one is dying, for instance, there just isn't anything you can do, and that feeling of powerlessness can be too much to bear.

So people resort to praying - that perhaps they can do something via proxy. Yeah, maybe if I pray, God will let my loved one live.

As if God is just standing around waiting for you to pray. In his mind, God is thinking, "I'm going to stand here and do jack shit until someone prays. If no one prays, I'm just going to stand here and watch this person die. Yep, I'm a prick like that."

Is that really how you perceive God? Because those who put a lot of stock in prayer is saying precisely that.

Meditation, contemplation and silent prayer all help to calm the practitioner, it helps them see clearly and to then act not out of desperation but with a clarity and purpose that helps those around them to act in like manner.

boatlady wrote:meditation, however, is a method of maybe getting one's thoughts and feelings into perspective, so as to be able to act more effectively.Some people like to call this prayer

Perhaps I should have made it clear my previous post was a general comment. In any case I don't see prayer and meditation as being the same thing. The former is an attempt to communicate with a deity, the latter is about introspection (at least that's how I see it).